Blog Citizen Pinoy PH (citizenpinoyph.blogspot.com) on July 14 wrongly presented as news a satirical piece published by Adobo Chronicles about American President Donald Trump “joining calls” to revoke Rappler chief Maria Ressa’s dual citizenship.
The blog, which published the now-deleted story under its “Hot” and “Social” news section, bore the headline, “CONFIRM | DONALD TRUMP JOINS CALL TO REVOKE MARIA RESSA’S DUAL CITIZENSHIP.” It could have reached over two million people, and continues to be shared on social media.
The Adobo Chronicles is a website created in 2013 registered under the United States Patent and Trademark Office as an “on-line journal, namely blog(s), featuring news and political satire.” Its satirical piece on Trump and Ressa was published March 5.
In its About page, The Adobo Chronicles says “Everything you read on this site is based on fact, except for the lies.”
It revised its format in recent years with the increase in disinformation going around the Internet. To “distinguish fact from fiction,” the website says italicized statements “represent the facts” while “the rest are fiction.” The statement about Ressa having dual citizenship is the only one distinguished as fact in the article.
Citizen Pinoy PH’s false and misleading story surfaced less than a week after human rights lawyer Amal Clooney announced she will lead the legal team of Ressa, who is facing a string of charges including tax evasion and cyberlibel.
The false story’s top traffic generators from social media are the Facebook pages Dugong Maharlika, SARA DUTERTE FOR PRESIDENT 2022 ELECTIONS, and PRESIDENT RODY DUTERTE -FEDERAL MOVEMENT INTERNATIONAL.
Citizen Pinoy PH has been publishing stories at least since December 2018.
